DARK ROAST
by x49911119
Summary: The dark aqua apron fit the man almost stunningly, his body shape seemingly being a natural mannequin for the uniform that draped on his torso. A small grin came from Hinata's lips as she adjusted Sasuke's bow tie, a small pink blush surfacing on the angry-looking face of the man before her. "A man who looks good in suits is bound to look good in aprons, I suppose." SxH
1. PROLOGUE

**DARK ROAST**

**.**

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PROLOGUE

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"No."

On-lookers whispered upon the scene as tears started to make their way down the cheeks of a young woman, her pink locks visibly shaking at the vibrations of her anguish. The man across from her, however, could give less of a fuck as he took a sip of his coffee casually, one of his strong hands shifting through his bangs pompously. She was really testing his patience right now.

"B-But Sasuke, it's been six month-"

Trying his best to stifle a sarcastic laugh, the stoic man broke his perfect posture to lean over the table ever so slightly, fingers playing against the dead textures of hair that were the ends of the pinkette. A look of distaste flashed across his face.

'_I've always hated her hair_.'

"You can't seriously be telling me that you fell in love with me in a span of six months, Haruno-san."

The ill fact that he had referred to her by her last name with polite mannerisms made the girl even more emotional, her back slumping down as she started to cry into her open hands. The Uchiha rolled his eyes as more of the customers that sat around them started to gaze at the pair, looks almost ridiculing the man; yet he simply didn't care. They didn't understand who he was or who she was or what had occurred between them, and it wasn't any of their damn business at that.

"But I did, Sasuke! I really did!"

Flicking the hair that he was playing with away from his calloused fingers, the twenty-four year man gave a tired sigh as he sat back into his original position, his back relaxing against the comfy sofa-like seat with his arms crossed against his chest. He fucking _knew_ the only reason Sakura took him here was so she could raise her chances of him being _semi_-understanding towards her, them being in public giving her hope that he'd be nicer in his words and decision making. But nope, like he's been acting and feeling since the very beginning, _no fucks were given_. No matter where he is, who he's with or any other circumstance really, the man will always state his mind in a blunt matter, sugar coating being non-existent in his tone or language. Bittersweet was what he was.

"You and all the other women I've slept with."

Wide eyed with a shocked look plastered on her face, Sakura felt a foreign liquid splash against her face, ice cold water causing her make-up to slowly drip off the surface. Another look of distaste flashed in the sharp eyes of the man as he put down the now empty cup. It may have been too much, but oh well.

'_She's always worn too much make-up for me anyways_.'

Because of the tense atmosphere that now overtook the cafe, Sasuke could feel the possibility of someone interjecting starting to rise. So, for the sake of his peace and inner balance, he decided to actually go out of his way and say an extraneous fact that made him not look too much like the bad guy. He could at least care for _one_ moment, especially if it benefited him.

"Try not to make it too obvious that you only want me for my inheritance next time, Haruno." After secretly watching her embezzle money from his business accounts into her own for numerous months, he _knew _he could've done a whole lot worst to that low-life. But hey, she was decent in bed.

Finally breaking her facade, a venomous glare overtook jade eyes as she swept off some of the moisture off her now dripping face, standing up with the chair screeching after her. All eyes on her as no hesitation was seen as the woman picked up her cup of hot coffee, dangerously attempting to throw it in Sasuke's direction only to have her wrist caught in the process. The woman turned her head at whoever dared stopped her at the heat of the moment, her eyes staggering at the intense purple color that entrapped her own green pair. That was rather surprising for her.

"Excuse me, but it wouldn't be very smart to do that."

Sasuke stared at the barista curiously, a small smirk tickling the side of his mouth. She'd just save Sakura from an ugly lawsuit and from him buying a new suit.

The five-ten stature of the woman slightly towered over the five-six body of the other as she slowly felt the smaller one start to calm down, her grip loosening at upon noticing this change. A subtle distinct cloud of chatter started to form within the cafe as the person at the center of all the attention started look around her, embarrassment now kindling from within her. A loud '_hmph_' and a flip of the bird was all that Sakura left behind as she left the semi-empty cafe and triumphant "ex", the topic of conversations sprouting about the whole scene. It was a terrible idea to try and convince Sasuke to marry her in public, but at least it wasn't somewhere with a lot of people.

Hinata looked after the steaming form of her customer, stomping around everywhere on the way out to make everyone know that she was mad as she left. A tired sigh left her lips as she ruffled her short hair messily, a silly habit that had formed ever since she was young to express her frustration.

'_I hope she never comes back to my damn cafe_.'

A large hand lightly rested itself atop her right shoulder as she turned to its owner, the large build of the six-two man that was sitting now towering over hers. Dark brows pulled themselves together as she saw him give her an amused smile with the other hand lazily stuffed in his pocket.

"Thanks."

As soon as he was about to take his leave, he felt a hand tug the back of his suit, the action causing him to immediately stop. An instant feeling of irritation pumped through his veins as he turned around and gave a light glare at the woman keeping him from leaving, a small speck of surprise coming through as well to see a glare of her own matching him up. No one dared touch him without his permission.

"What."

Hinata refrained herself from slapping the hell out of the handsome man, the last of her customers making their own leave now. After bringing himself and his girlfriend to _her_ cafe and causing a scene, disrupting the customers and some of the staff, and the fact that this all happened _right_ before she had to close down to prep for dinner...he wasn't leaving without the right consequences. After seeing off the last two people away from her eatery with a smile, an elderly couple, the owner closed the doors shut as she locked them securely, her right hand still locked in a dangerous grip upon the expensive material that covered the Uchiha.

"I want compensation."

Upon hearing the request, the man cocked a brow as he gave Hinata a sly smile, his hands swiftly gripping her wrists without a second thought as he held her body against a nearby wall, the cat-like speed of the whole process catching the owner off guard. He skillfully adjusted his hands now so that only one was required to keep both arms bound, the other one freely moving to his own wishes and desires. A small squeal came from behind the counter as Hinata concluded it was Ayame, the innocent docile barista most likely hiding out of her own embarrassment after witnessing the scene. Asuma and Chouji were probably too busy prepping in the kitchen for dinner to figure out what was going out on the floor, while Sai, Karin, Konohamaru and Moegi were probably folding silverware into napkins like they should at this time in the far back corner. A small smirk was all Sasuke gave before he readied himself to talk, his eyes bored into her's like water flowing into a well. Captivated was an understatement at the lovely sight of those deep, hostile lilac eyes. He hasn't encountered a feisty lady like her in a while.

"I don't usually go for the boyish types, but now that I have a good look at you, you're not that bad looking..."

A vein was practically ready to burst on the side of Hinata's head as she now used her years of mastering Judo to use, capturing the man's arm in a hold that made it physically impossible for him to move without experiencing any pain. The only reason he had her in his hold to begin with was she wasn't ready for it, but if she had anticipated it, there was no doubt that she would have had him on the floor by now begging to be released.

'_Shit, I need to sharpen up my reflexes_.'_  
_

"Impressive."

Letting go now, Hinata crossed her arms over her chest as Sasuke brushed off his suit, straightening any wrinkles that might have negatively deformed it. She was strong, interesting, and gutsy; she without a doubt, has his attention.

"You idiot, I meant cleaning up the water you got everywhere."

Deeply intrigued at this dark-haired woman, Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle. Not only did no one touch him without his permission but no one _ever_ talked to him like that. But to have someone actually have the balls to do so was very..._refreshing_, in a weird sort of masochistic way...

"Oh, and why should I?"

Tired of his arrogant attitude, Hinata couldn't hold back her restrain of using body contact as she slapped the back of his head not so lightly, an even more intense glare stabbing her eyesight. Jesus, this guy had glares for days. Finally calming down and scolding herself in her head for letting him get to herself so easily, the milky skinned woman took one deep breath before looking at Sasuke in the eye.

"Because I'm your new boss now."

Grabbing a nearby mop, Hinata put it in the hands of the baffled ex-businessman, her own triumphant turn of mouth lightening her expression.

"Courtesy of your family, may I add."

* * *

**READ THE EXTENDED SUMMARY FIRST**: The Uchiha family is a prestigious family that controls the business world with an iron fist. Their heir, Sasuke, is to be set-up to overtake the company soon; but his Grandfather is discontented with his playboy habits, seemingly childish attitude, and bad judgement regarding his money. After talking it out with the rest of the family and especially Sasuke's parents, they all decide that it's best for him to live a year as a commoner, all of his possessions locked away in the family home with him being forbidden to access. They called upon the Hyuuga family for help, a partnering company, after learning that their ex-heiress gave up her seat to earn her own money her way and refused to live among the rich. With no better person to turn to, they managed to convince Hinata to let him work there, Sasuke actually being a regular in her cafe anyways. He was about to learn about all of this after her returned home from his little date with Sakura, but Hinata managed to ruin the surprise. Woops.

**A/N: O**KAY, let's see how this turns out. Questions? PM Me. Like it? Favorite it and follow. Anything else? Free to review.

Hope you guys enjoy this series because this is my creative sanctuary to find inspiration for '_Tar__t_'...Thanks and R and R :P


	2. 1

"What do you mean stripped away!?"

The sudden change of volume that had occurred to the right of her caused Hinata to slightly flinch, her face incoherently wincing at the loud voice. Sasuke, as far as she had presumed, was a man who had kept himself calm at all times. Coming into her cafe on a regular basis during the mornings, she would see him easily start a silent uproar of attention from everyone around him, female or not; and instead of thriving off of it, he would always brush it off as nothing more than something he refused to acknowledge, almost like it was a nuisance for him to. He was also very cold and introverted at times as well, an incident with Ayame accidentally giving him the wrong change which resulted in him calling her 'dumb'-only shortly afterwards, when she brushed her hands with his to give him the rest of it, he pulled away rudely while vaguely scolding her for the unwanted body contact in the process. The reason she remembered it so clearly was because the young girl informed her of the situation after she was done crying for a whole ten minutes, wanting to go home early after being so emotionally exhausted. He may be an asshole at times but even so, she could tell that yelling wasn't something he did on a daily basis. Well, she'd hope not at least because his yelling voice was downright cringe-worthy...

The wide-tooth grin the elderly man gave before the pair almost caused Sasuke to sink his nails deeper into his thighs; what was going on in his damn head?

Shifting uncomfortably at both the atmosphere and her sitting position, Hinata shifted soundlessly so that instead of sitting on her legs she was now sitting on her bottom. It's been a good minute since she had sat in the traditional Japanese way, the last time being when she was announcing her departure from the clan compound. It was crazy how she was naturally conditioned to behave and sit like that only to have lost the ability later on, casual sitting now replacing that formal way. Though it being a small detail, she was glad to see that she was finally losing that uptight personality she used to have.

"Eh? Do I need to repeat myself again, Sasuke?"

Brows knitted together as the white bearded man clapped his hands twice, a young butler making his way towards him from the back of the room with a silver platter that held a key ring with around four keys bound by it, a money clip with what only seemed to be cards, and a pair of red scissors. Hinata looked on curiously as Sasuke gave a small snarl, his vision already recognizing what each of those things were and who they really belonged to. So that's why he made him empty his pockets before he entered the room...

"I have your house key plus its spare, your key to your private car garage, and the key to your beachfront home as well." Picking up the money clip from the platter now as it was lowered to his sitting position, Grandfather Uchiha held it up at as he couldn't help but smile at his grandson's demise.

"I also had your checking, savings, business, and family account all transferred into a temporary account to make sure that you will no longer spend anymore of the family's money." Taking the pair scissors, a loud snip sound was made as they cut through the plastic at ease, completely splitting all of them in half. Sasuke felt his face turn pale at the sight. Throwing the sliced sheets of plastic in his hand on the ground, the old man placed the scissors back on the platter as he ordered the butler to lock the keys away in an unknown area in the house.

"There is no possible way of accessing any of your belongings, Sasuke. And if you ever tried..."

The eighty-five year old man clapped his hands twice once more as a maid now made her way next to him, a huge scroll ready to be opened before the trio.

"...Yuuji will gladly take over as head."

Hinata couldn't help but notice the devilish smirk that Sasuke's grandpa seemed to possess as he watched the younger Uchiha's expression carefully. So that's where he got it from...

At a loss of words, Sasuke stared at his baby cousin's picture that was printed on the scroll in front of him, the face of a thirteen-year old boy adding fuel to an already burning inferno. So if he didn't comply with his orders or tried to beat the system, his seat as head would be forfeited?

'_Goddammit you ole' bastard..._'

With a final sigh and a sour expression forever stamped on his face, Sasuke tore down some of his pride as he finally released the tension away from his gripping hands, a sudden breeze from the autumn night brushing through an open window of the huge room they were in. Looks like he had to kiss ass if he wanted his life back in order.

"...Fine."

Hinata turned her head towards the heir as she heard a deep chuckle come from the current head of the family business, his hands now signaling his servants to scatter back into their places. For a man his age he certainly was in good shape and had a lively attitude as he made his way towards the young man with a glory-filled stride, the ends of his long silk yukata kissing against the sleek wooden floors. Standing before his next protege, he motioned for him to stand up as he motioned for Hinata too as well. Holding on to Sasuke with his left hand and Hinata with his right, a hearty laugh filled the room and rang through the ears of its inhabitants enough that everyone couldn't help but follow after; except for Sasuke, of course.

"Glad my words finally reached through that thick skull of yours, Sasu!" Hinata snickered at the nickname as a deep blush came from Sasuke's face, his teeth gritting. If he was labeled as immature, then he'd have to say it ran in the family. Turning his head now at the ex-Hyuuga heiress, Grandfather gave Hinata an honestly hearty smile that dazzled from his small five-seven frame. He looked like an iron ore that shined at the side of a dull mountain.

"Alrighty Hinata, I leave my grandson in your capable hands!" Rolling her eyes, Hinata couldn't help but give a small empty smile.

"Am I lucky or what..." Noticing the sarcasm, Sasuke used his left foot to kick the back of the knee of the woman beside him, her almost falling down immediately. If she was't so used to Asuma and Chouji doing that to her, she'd most likely fall in embarrassment in front of everyone...

As a small sigh left from Grandfather, he couldn't help but quietly admire the way the two young'uns glared daggers into one another in a way that seemed to cause a wave of nostalgia to wash over him.

'_Guess Sasuke finally met his match...'_

**DARK ROAST**

**.**

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1

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Slamming his palm against the annoying alarm clock that buzzed by his ear on the side table, the dark mane of the man slowly made it's way upward as the body of its owner started to sit up straight. Feeling a weird sensation at the back of his head, Sasuke brought his hand to the location only to find that he had a flat spot due to sleeping on the armrest of the sofa.

'_Sofa?_'

Opening his eyes wider now, the young man couldn't help but give a small, short cry at the realization of him _not_ being in his beautiful condo. His expensive wooden floors were replaced with mediocre white carpeting, the customized colored walls now blank and white with nothing on them, and his usually ambient living room that was filled with all his stuff was now an empty apartment sized living room with only a dinner table set and two couches, one of which he had fallen asleep on.

Making his way towards the window that was next to his bar-styled island that was attached to the kitchen, he spread the white curtains wide open as he hoped to see the usual city-view from the twentieth-floor; only to be disappointed and let down to see the building of the coffee shop he was assigned to work at for a whole year from the second floor of the complex. Banging his head against the wall the window was on, Sasuke failed to hear the knocking that was on his door, doing his best to try to wake himself up from this bad dream. Why was this happening to him?

Before he could beat his head in any longer, he felt a presence behind him as he lazily turned himself towards it, his body language clearly showing one of disinterest. How did she get in here?

"You were supposed to show up to work twenty minutes ago." Eyes locking onto the garments that were in the arms of Hinata, Sasuke couldn't help but take a second look at her outfit as she wore it well. A white button up, dark brown form fitting corduroy pants, black non-slip shoes, an aqua apron with the name of her restaurant printed on the front breast-pocket, and a chocolate colored bow-tie were the signature visuals to the cafe ensemble. Sasuke's own personalized and re-sized version of the uniform was shoved in his arms as Hinata started to push Sasuke towards his bathroom, his groans ignored by her persistence. She lived right above him so she knew the layout of his apartment by heart, Sasuke's grandfather buying it out instantly after she mentioned it to him when he first approached her prior to her encounter with him. She laughed in her head along the way as she saw his messy hair, the whole back of it sticking up like some sort of black rooster.

Pushing him inside, she slammed the door shut as she leaned on the front of it, her gaze following her watch. A good ten minutes had passed as lilac eyes could see the stove clock from their position, the lime green numbers displaying it to be six-fifty in the morning.

"Hurry, Sasuke. We're about to open up soo-"

Finding her back against the hard and defined chest of the apartment owner, Hinata felt his arms catch her as she now found herself leaning on him unintentionally. A short tickle of his breath crept to her left ear as she could smell the strong scent of mouthwash press against her nostrils.

"This is tacky."

Hearing the complaint made Hinata's small feeling of embarrassment go away instantly as she broke away from Sasuke's arms, turning around to see what he was saying. She had picked out the color coordination herself so she couldn't help but feel just a _tad_ attacked by his statement. Trying her best to hold in her laughter, Hinata couldn't help but look at Uchiha Sasuke with a glint of amusement sparking into her eyes. He put everything on correctly, except for the fact that he incorrectly tied as his bow tie, it being the worst attempt she's ever seen as it laid in a limp confused knot under his chin. An annoyed expression crept on the disheveled man's face as Hinata made her way closer to him, completely undoing the brown ribbon. He hadn't given her permission to touch him, but it was too damn early for him to deal with this shit so he'll bear with it for now.

'_I'm guessing he never tied a bow-tie himself before..._' Touching a couple places like the apron and tucked in button-up, the restaurateur took a step back as she finally finished the cherry on-top.

The dark aqua apron fit the man almost stunningly, his body shape seemingly being a natural mannequin for the uniform that draped on his torso. A small grin came from Hinata's lips as she adjusted Sasuke's bow tie one last time, a small pink blush surfacing on the angry-looking face of the man before her. "A man who looks good in suits is bound to look good in aprons, I suppose."

Flicking her nose, the man gave a short smirk as he made his way toward his apartment entrance, grabbing his keys and empty wallet with only his driver's license in it from the dinner-top. His grandpa also managed to somehow take his motorcycle license away. God, he really did take things to another level...

Hinata quickly followed after him out the door as she licked her lips at the sudden chill that swept by, the sound of leaves rustling in the wind and Sasuke locking his door playing in her ears.

Today would be beyond interesting.

* * *

**EXTENDED SUMMARY ICYMI**: The Uchiha family is a prestigious family that controls the business world with an iron fist. Their heir, Sasuke, is to be set-up to overtake the company soon; but his Grandfather is discontented with his playboy habits, seemingly childish attitude, and bad judgement regarding his money. After talking it out with the rest of the family and especially Sasuke's parents, they all decide that it's best for him to live a year as a commoner, all of his possessions locked away in the family home with him being forbidden to access. They called upon the Hyuuga family for help, a partnering company, after learning that their ex-heiress gave up her seat to earn her own money her way and refused to live among the rich. With no better person to turn to, they managed to convince Hinata to let him work there, Sasuke actually being a regular in her cafe anyways. He was about to learn about all of this after her returned home from his little date with Sakura, but Hinata managed to ruin the surprise. Woops.

**A/N: R**egarding Hinata's OOCnes, I'm keeping it that way because I've always adored a stronger more will-powered Hinata more than anything. I think putting the type of personality in her for this story would make this a lot more interesting, Sasuke and herself clashing at times that would make it more amusing than it would for him to tear down a more shy, gentler Hinata. So yeh yeh yeh yeh yeh yeh

Please R&R and PM me for any questions or anything! Thanks ya'll~


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